News of: Sunday, 29th of July, 2012

Front Page

A Bangladeshi non-government organisation has misappropriated an international grant of nearly $1.9 million, meant to fight AIDS and tuberculosis, through fabricated bank statements, cheques and accounting journals.

Bangladesh has both financial and technical capabilities to construct Padma bridge, and the government should move ahead confidently and maintaining transparency in the process, without being subservient to donors.

Editorial

It is astonishing that more than a decade since the passing of a High Court ruling which ordered the relocation of all tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar nothing has materialised. True the work on the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) remains unfinished, but that no preparatory work has been done by a single tannery to relocate till date goes to show bad faith of the industry in this regard.

If a picture speaks a thousand words than the two pictures appearing in this paper's back page on Saturday speak volumes about how even the administration is helpless against party clout. The pictures show the interrupted construction work of a pavement in south Tejgaon in the capital, reportedly, because in the way stand various offices of a political party. And the DCC does not have the nerve to remove them because most of them happen to belong to party appendages of the ruling Awami League.

Sports

From William Shakespeare to William Blake, from JK Rowling to Rowan Atkinson, from Tim Berners-Lee to Daniel Craig, from the Sex Pistols to the Beatles, from Arctic Monkey's to Akram Khan, from Peter Pan to Lord Voldemort and from James Bond to the Queen of England, Danny Boyle's “Isles of Wonder” managed to make the impossible, possible.

The West Indies earned a sizeable 171-run lead as they were all out for 522 in reply to New Zealand's first innings 351 as was lunch was called on the fourth day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua yesterday.

The unlikely batting pair of Mominul Haque and Shahadat Hossain gave Bangladesh A the crucial first innings lead against Baroda Cricket Association XI on the second day of the Dell-KSCA Shafi Darashah cricket tournament at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur yesterday.

The Bangladesh cricket team returns to the capital today from Amsterdam after completing a mixed bag tour of Europe. Mushfiqur Rahim's men will touch down at noon after winning four out of six Twenty20 matches in Ireland and the Netherlands.

Mohammedan Sporting Club's Nigerian coach Emeka Ezeugo has threatened to take the matter of his 'alleged' unpaid wages to a higher authority if he doesn't get a solution from the Bangladesh Football Federation. The Nigerian coach, who guided the Black and Whites to a third-place finish in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League, said he owes one lakh three thousand dollars in total to the club in a press conference at a local hotel yesterday.

Usha Krira Cahkra kept in touching distance with leaders Mohammedan SC after they defeated Sonali Bank 4-3 in their first match of the Super Five stage of the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Briton Lewis Hamilton confirmed that he and McLaren have recovered their form when he swept to a dominant pole position in Saturday's closely-fought qualifying session for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Yohan Blake has beaten 100m world record holder Usain Bolt twice this year. But in Friday's training session the young pretender was looking for other ways to slow down his teammate. When the Olympic champion was racing down the track, Blake cheekily pushed a hurdle into Bolt's lane, forcing the world champion to turn around several metres ahead of the finish line.

The opening ceremony might have heralded the start of the Olympics and the archery might have been the first non-football competition to get underway, but it was clear to see that swimming is still the biggest draw of the first week of the Olympics.

Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan claimed an unexpected but deserved win in the men's Olympic road race Saturday, wrecking Mark Cavendish's hopes of delivering a first gold of the Games for the hosts.

Local insurance giant Green Delta has reached final stages to sell its 10 percent share to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a wing of the World Bank Group, a top official of the insurer said.

Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd take their battle for mobile supremacy to court on Monday in one of the biggest-ever technology patent trials, a case with the potential to reshape a fast-evolving market they now dominate.

Ishwardi Benarasi Palli, one of the largest Benarasi producing areas, is buzzing with workers who are now concentrating on decorating saris with 'Karchupi shilpa', the local name for the art of designing clothes with beads and sequins.

New details from court documents and sources close to the Libor scandal investigation suggest that groups of traders working at three major European banks were heavily involved in rigging global benchmark interest rates.

The state must ensure that poor litigants are not denied justice on frivolous and baseless causes and should pay for their judicial expenses, the head of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said yesterday.

Robbers looted around 100 tolas of gold ornaments, Tk 6 lakh in cash and a licenced revolver from the house of a former ward councillor of Dhaka City Corporation in the capital's Kuril area early yesterday.

One of the three committees which Sylhet's MC College authority formed to probe the torching of 42 rooms of the college's hostel was given 10 more working days yesterday to submit the investigation report.

Sector Commanders Forum Chairman Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandker yesterday urged the International Crimes Tribunals judges to fix the number of defence witnesses to be taken into cognisance during the trial.

Ten students of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of Dhaka University (DU) have received Prof Sitara Parvin Award for their excellent performances at BSS (honours) examinations in 2011.

Three "aggrieved" senior teachers, who had filed nomination papers as independent candidates after being denied nomination from Awami League-backed Yellow panel, yesterday withdrew their candidacy for the upcoming deans' election at Chittagong University.

Several hundred residential students of Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall at Rajshahi University (RU) vandalised the hall's dining hall and laid siege to its main gate protesting serving of unhygienic foods on Friday.

Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI) for the first time in Bangladesh has organised an environmental and earth sciences Olympiad named National Earth Olympiad 2012 (NEO'12), says a press release.

Amid fear of a massive oil spillage from oil tanker MT Meherjan that sank in the Meghna River late Wednesday night, experts and officials of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), navy, coastguard, and police are preparing to conduct operation to salvage the vessel today.

Students of Government Azam Khan Commerce College (AKCC) yesterday vandalised classrooms and confined the principal to the administrative building to press their demand for introducing master's courses in finance and banking and marketing departments of the college.

At least 20 people were injured in a clash between two rival groups at Baliapara village in Sadar upazila yesterday. The clash was a sequel to previous enmity between incumbent chairman of Ziarukhi union parishad (UP) Yusuf Ali and former member of the UP Amirul Islam. Officer in-charge (OC) of Kushtia Model police station Kazi Jalal Uddin said the incident took place when Amirul's men beat up one Ayub Ali of Yusuf Ali group at about 12:00pm at Ziarukhi bazar. Within minutes, Yusuf and followers rushed to the spot and locked in a fierce fight, leaving around 20 from both sides injured. Of the injured, Musab Ali, Abul Kasem, Foijal, Saharjan, Shafia Begum and Julhas were admitted to Kushtia General Hospital.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two people with two firearms in Ataikula upazila of the district on Friday night. The arrestees are Md. Abu Sayeed Sheikh, 35, son of Hamid Sheikh and Md. Eunus Pramanik, 38, son of Md. Darog Ali of village Shreepor in the upazila. They are listed criminals and involved in illegal arms trade, police said. Acting on a tip-off, Rab-12 team raided Kasarpur area under Ataikula PS Friday midnight when a they were waiting for a customer. During drive, the team seized two shutter guns and six bullets from the possession of the arrestees.

Thieves took away 38 tolas gold ornaments from a jewellery shop at Fakirpur in Maijdi Court area of the district town on Friday noon. Abdul Mannan, owner of the 'Riad Jewellers' said he along with his employees and fellow shop owners went to offer Juma prayers at a nearby mosque, keeping the shop under lock and key at about 1pm. Taking advantage, a gang tactfully entered into the shop and took away the gold ornaments.

Police recovered body of a middle-aged man from a sugarcane field at village Haiyadaha in Gobindaganj upazila yesterday morning. Police identified the man as Azizer Rahman, 43, who went missing on Thursday. Police suspect that a rival group abducted and killed him with sharp weapons. The killers later dumped the body in the cane field. Police arrested Ershad Hossain, Moinul Hossain and Jahidul Islam, of a gang of cheats in this connection, said Delwer Hossain, OC of Gobindaganj police station.

A poor crowd on a weekend at Team Anna's indefinite fast on Saturday did not deter Anna Hazare to threaten a fast-unto-death from tomorrow on Lokpal issue and talk about a political alternative in the 2014 elections.

Arts & Entertainment

A musical play combined with spectacular stage design holds great promise for theatre lovers. If it incorporates the theme of the Liberation War the play will have a touch of emotion and empathy as well.

Arannya Anwar carved a name in the media by writing and directing TV plays like “Jonok”, “Jonmo”, “Shopner Haat-e Hyena”, “Jubok Khun Hobar Por”, “Raat Pohabar Onek Deri” and “Darao”. However, his biggest success stories were the plays, “Nurul Huda Ekoda Bhalobeshechhilo” and “Otopor Nurul Nuda”. BTV aired both the plays directed by Anwar, where Mahfuz Ahmed played the title role. The trilogy of the drama, an unprecedented phenomenon in our country, was later completed with “Amader Nurul Huda”, which featured a host of stars like Afzal Hossain, Humayun Faridee, Mousumi, Riaz and Zahid Hasan. “Amader Nurul Huda”, written by Arannya Anwar himself, was aired on ATN Bangla.

A memorial meeting on popular writer Humayun Ahmed was held at the premises of central Shaheed Minar in Lalmonirhat town on Saturday. A cross section of people, including poets, writers, theatre artistes, singers, educationists, litterateurs, journalists, teachers, and students were present at the meeting. The participants prayed for the salvation of the departed soul of Ahmed and held a discussion on his life and creative talent.

To pay homage to the major voice of alternative cinema in India, filmmaker and theoretician Mani Kaul, Dhaka Art Center and Bangladesh Short Film Forum jointly organised Mani Kaul Film Session 2 at Dhaka Art Centre (DAC) in Dhanmondi. The two day film screening was inaugurated on July 27. Mani Kaul's Duvidha, Uski Roti and Nazar were screened at the Seminar Room of the DAC.

Actor Sumaiya Shimu is constantly on the go, shooting for many Eid special TV plays. Currently, she is based in Kishoreganj for a single episode play titled "Fantasy Opera", directed by Mahmud Didar. Shatabdi Wadud stars opposite her.

OP-ED

Last week, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee took up residence in Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will reside there for the next five years and if health permits (he is 76 years now), and if he remains popular, he could be re-elected for another term. He is none other than the famous "Political Mr. Fix it" of India. Till his election as the president of India he was the finance minister. He thus became the first Bengali in history to be the president of India.

A new political order is emerging in the Middle East, and Turkey aspires to be its leader by taking a stand against authoritarian regimes. Earlier this week Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan went so far as to denounce the Syrian government's continuing massacres of civilians as "attempted genocide."

When considering our pre-election political mess, with the Al and the BNP locking horns, it would be helpful to remember the story of the Irish traveler who asked a farmer for the quickest way to Dublin. Came the reply: "I wouldn't start from here."

As the violence in Syria worsens, Washington is ramping up threats to intervene without UN approval in the absence of international consensus. As reports of a new massacre emerged from Syria, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new transition plan that would remove Assad from power completely, possibly signaling that the US was ready to make good on its threats to go it alone.

Three uncorrelated incidents set me thinking about the process of getting old, or, should I say ageing? Young readers, please don't stop reading -- I don't want to lose you, since my reflections are not exclusively for senior citizens! And, believe me, crossing the fifties can be as traumatically unnerving as crossing the teens. Despite what many of you may think, old people also have hormones raging underneath their wrinkles -- the difference is that their hormones are, perhaps, moving in a direction opposite to yours!